Terri Minsky leaves new Lizzie McGuire series

The showrunner is stepping down from her role after Disney filmed two episodes and decided to move the series in a different creative direction.

Terri Minsky is stepping down from her position as showrunner on the Disney+ revival of Lizzie McGuire, and no replacement has been announced.

Minsky created, wrote and produced the original series about a teenager’s daily adventures with her animated alter-ego. Disney announced it was making the sequel series with Minsky was on board at its annual fan event D23 in August.

“Fans have a sentimental attachment to Lizzie McGuire and high expectations for a new series,” according to a Disney spokesperson. “After filming two episodes, we concluded that we need to move in a different creative direction and are putting a new lens on the show.”

The sequel series’ original creative direction set Lizzie McGuire as a thirty-year old navigating grown-up life in New York, still accompanied by her 13-year-old animated alter-ego. Disney+ has not said how the vision for the show might change.

The original series ran on Disney Channel for two seasons (65 x 22 minutes) from 2001 to 2004. It was produced by Stan Rogow Productions (Flight 29 Down) and Disney Channel. The show also spawned the film The Lizzie McGuire Movie in 2003, which earned US$55 million worldwide, against a US$17 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo.

The show’s return is part of Disney+’s ongoing efforts to build out its service with content that leverages audience’s nostalgia for older shows. This includes Disney Channel’s 2001 to 2005 series The Proud Family, which Disney+ announced it was bringing back with new episodes in November.

Minksy’s departure comes the day after director Scott Derrickson (Doctor Strange) announced he was leaving his role as director of Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. On his Twitter Derrickson announced he was parting ways with the studio over “creative differences.” At San Diego Comic Con in July, Derrickson stated that he was going to make a scary horror-type movie, which Marvel exec Kevin Feige later said would not be the case.